Bottle closure



Dec. 14,1937. J AL 2,102,158

BOTTLE CLOSURE Original Filed July 22, 1936 I INVENTOR K Mmd/{M ATTORNEYS liner discs.

Patented Dec. 14, 1937' PATENT OFFICE BQ'I'TLE SURE Joseph C.

Keaney, Mount Lebanon, and James M. Guthrie, Pittflilll'gh, Pg.

Original application July 22, 1936, Serial No.

Divided and thisapplication January 25, 1937, Serial No. 122,104

5 Claims.

' The invention relates to bottle closures ofthe sort adapted to safeguard sealed bottles against dangerous internal pressures. The invention, more particularly, consists in a particularly effective embodiment of this known concept in a crown cap. w o

The application for this patent comprised a division of application Serial No. 91,898, filed July 22, 1936.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. I is a view in cross section and on large scale of a conventional form of crown cap, embodying the invention; Figs. II and III, respectively, are views in plan and to smaller scale of a gasket and a diaphragm embodied in the cap; Fig. IV is a fragmentary view of a bottle neck, showing in vertical section the cap assembled therewith; Fig. V is'a fragmentary view of tlie cap, on the plane of section of Fig. I, illustrating a condition of service; and Fig. VI is a'view in cross section of a modified form of gasket for use in our cap.

The usual crown closure consists in a shallow 'cap I of sheet metal (ordinarily tin-plate), having a short fluted skirt 2, and including a gasket 3 formed of compressible material, such as cork, secured by means of a thin body or film t of adhesive. In service the "cap is assembled upon the mouth'of a bottle, as illustrated in Fig. IV. the lip of the bottle including a peripheral head 5, upon which the skirt of the cap-is clinched in knowr way. The gasket is compressed by the cap 5 and secured in gas-sealing position over the mouth of the bottle. Sometimes the gasket is faced with a-thin liner disc of impervious material, such as paper impregnated with a substance that is chemically neutral to the contents of the bottle. In recent years aluminum foil coated with a baked coumarone resin has proved successful as a material of which to make such In accordance with the invention, we provide the usually closed disc-like body of gasket 3 with a perforation or recess 3a, and form one or more 7 the assembly of the cap upon a bottle, as shown in Fig. IV, the periphery of the disc I is secured in sealing engagement with the mouth of the bottle, with the peripheral body portion of the gasket 3 compressed thereagainst. Within the area of perforation or orifice 3a the normally'impervious body of the liner disc comprises a diaphragm which is adapted to yield upward in revarious sorts.

- equivalent.

spouse to pressure within the bottle. The structure of the. liner disc or diaphragm. is so determined that, when pressure within the bottle rises to a dangerous value, the diaphragm automati cally becomes perforate-it ruptures or tears in this case--and permits gas to escape through the vent or perforation 6. Thus, the normally sealed bottle is safeguarded against excessive internal pressures.

, It is,contemp lated that many materials will be found of which to form the diaphragm 1-impregnated, paper, coated metal-foil, and tissues of The pressure at which the diaphragm ruptures may be regulated by'choice of material and thickness, and in some cases the surface of the diaphragm may be weakened in the region of intended rupture, such as by means of a surface scoring 8, Fig: III.

The vent 6 in cap I maybe provided by a pointed instrument, in such manner that pointed barbs 9 remain projecting into the region iiafinto which the diaphragmbulges in response to pressure within the bottle. The points of these barbs are adapted to pierce the diaphragm pressed against them by pressure within the bottle. Fig. V illustrates the diaphragm portion la 01 the. gasket I as it is forced by pressure in the bottle upward into recess 3a and into bursting or puncturing position in the recess. In the'use of the barbs 9, it is merely a question of proportioning of parts and selecting of materialto obtain the venting of the bottle at a pressure of given value. .Wecontemplate-that the body of the gasket itself may include orembody the diaphragm or its For example, the body of the gasket may be recessed from its upper face downward;

.the recess will lie inward of the periphery of the gasket, and will extend partway through the body of the gasket, so that the relatively thin body of the gasket remaining between the bottom of the recess and the lower face of the gasket comprises in efiect a diaphragm. This modification is illustrated in the gasket shown in Fig. VI.

It wfli be understood that other modifications,

refinements, and elaborations of the bottle closure described above may be. made without departing from the invention defined in'the appended claims. Indeed, the above disclosure will enable the engineer and artisan to embody the invention in bottle closures of other and widely diversified sorts.

"We claim as our invention:

1. In combination with a bottle containing liquid under gaseous pressure, a crown closure secured upon and sealing the mouth of said bottle,

said closure comprising a metal cap with a skirt portion for clinching the cap in assembly upon the lip of said bottle mouth, said cap including a gasket portion of compressible material peripherally compressed against said bottle lip, a recess provided in the assembled closure structure, a normally open passage for the escape of air from said recess to the outer atmosphere, and a normally impervious diaphragm portion secured in gas-sealing position between said recess and the interior of said bottle, the body of said normally impervious diaphragm portion being formed of relatively inelastic, rupturable material and including a medial body portion movable relatively to said compressed gasket and into diaphragm-rupturing position in said recess in response to excessive pressure within said bottle, whereby said gasket automatically ruptures and relieves pressure within the bottle.

2. In combination with a bottle containing liquid under gaseous pressure, a crown closure secured upon and sealing the mouth of said bottle, said closure comprising a metal cap with a skirt portion for clinching the cap in. assembly upon the lip of said bottle mouth, said cap including a gasket of compressible material peripherally compressed against said bottle lip, a recess provided in the body of said gasket, a normally open vent for the escape of air from said recess to the outer atmosphere, and a normally impervious diaphragm secured in gas-sealing position between said recess and the interior of said bottle, the body of said normally impervious diaphragm being formed of relatively inelastic, rupturable material and including a medial body portion movable relatively to said compressed gasket and into diaphragm-rupturing position in said recess in response to excessive pressure within said bottle, whereby said gasket automatically ruptures and relief of pressure within tion being movable relatively to said puncturing means in response to excessive internal pressure in the bottle sealed by such closure, whereby said diaphragm is automatically punctured and excessive pressure. conditions relieved within the closed bottle.

4. In combination, a bottle, a diaphragm, ca'p means including a gasket for securing said diaphragm in sealed position over the mouth of said. bottle, with the diaphragm positively engaged and secured over its entire periphery and subject to pressure within the bottle on one side and communicating with the open atmos phere on the other, said diaphragm comprising a normally imperforate bottle-sealing membrane formed of relatively inelastic, rupturable ma.- terial, said diaphragm in normal imperforate state being adapted to yield outward against atmospheric pressure in response to normal pressures within the bottle, and to rupture and be come perforate in response to excessive pressure within the bottle.

5. The structure of the next preceding claim. in which said diaphragm includes a surface scoring serving more positively to effect said operation.

JOSEPH C. KEANEY. JAMES M. GUTHRIE. 

